Despite six months of winter, there are wonderful places to access local food in Winnipeg. I still make the occasional trip to support Canada’s corporate grocery barons, but these options help my household eat well and support the local food system.
Seeds and Seedlings
Every Spring, I look forward to ordering seeds and seedlings for our backyard vegetable and herb garden. I get them from Prairie Flora, a farm based in Teulon that offers a beautiful range of heirloom varieties. This past year, we loved their selection of hot peppers and fun heirloom tomatoes. Aimee's flowers are also lovely; I delighted in Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory, an annual vine carried over from Bavaria by a Baptist named John Ott. I pick up other seedlings at Jardins St-Léon.
Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory
Vegetables, in season
St-Léon is also a great place for seasonal vegetables; it's where I buy all of my bulk produce for pickles, jam, salsa and tomatoes that take us through the winter months. Then, Jonathan and his team at Jonathan's Farm feed us all year long. From their early spring community shares, through the summer months and into late autumn, it's always heartwarming to walk or bike to the Wolseley Farmers' Market and come home with a slough of local produce. My favourite, though, is the winter CSA, where you can choose up to 100 lbs of cured vegetables over four months.
Manitoba Grains
Another mid-winter special is picking up the annual Winter Grain CSA in a warehouse in Point Douglas. The brilliant minds and hard workers behind Adagio Acres keep us stocked with local oats, lentils, beans, heirloom flour, quinoa and other special items, grown with love. My favourite part is that you must bring your own containers to get your grains. At the annual pick-up day, we've gathered every container we can find, a pack of labels, and chat with all the farmers for recipe tips.
Source: Adagio Acres
What about food waste?
Winnipeg is the last municipal hold-out in Canada to support curb-side compost pickup. Luckily, my gem of a community association took the initiative to set up their own bin. Every week or so, I walk a Home Depot bucket of food waste down to the Orioles Community Centre and drop it off in a green bin.